Page 24 - TrafficInfraTech Magazine - July Digital Edition

ON THE COVER

Overloaded trucks, carrying poor health or suffer from
materials like cement, tiles, sand, impacted vision. However, this is
and steel beyond the 9-tonne an increasingly complex issue that
prescribed limit, are causing cracks, requires a more permanent solution.
grooves, and other distortions on
roads. For instance, the Varanasi Development and
Ring Road (Phase 2, pocket 1), Implementation
a 17-km stretch that opened in According to Bhutani, within
October 2021, is already in need Weigh-in-Motion technologies
of repair due to damage caused we have graduated from Slow
by overloaded trucks catering to Speed Weigh-in-Motion systems to
mining districts in Sonbhadra, Medium Speed Weigh-in-Motion
Mirzapur, and Bihar.
systems which can weigh the
According to data collected trucks up to speeds of 50 km/hr.
over four months, around 70% of “Going forward with adaptation
trucks transporting construction of Multilane Free Flow and GNSS/
The installation material were found to be GPS based tolling, we are looking
of WIM and the extremely overloaded, violating forward to manufacture High
road condition the limit. Similar issues of habitual Speed Weigh-in-Motions which
can weigh the trucks up to speeds
truck overloading are observed on
around the the Chandauli-Prayagraj National of 120 km/hr.”
installed WIM are Highway, straining roads, bridges, The most widely mentioned

very important for and infrastructure, leading to technology is Piezo Electric, which
increased maintenance costs
assuring accuracy. and compromised road safety. is said to be maintenance free,
affordable and considered to be
Hence, increasing State governments, including environmentally friendly. Along
the quality of Kerala and Nagaland, have also with the implementation of Smart
reported damages and accidents,
road around the prompting the consideration of cameras and Virtual WIM, these
installed WIM and tighter regulations and stricter systems can provide near real-
time data for challan issuance and
removing speed punishments for violators under violation enforcement.
the Motor Vehicles Act.
breakers will “The right approach to implement
Bhutani adds, “The Weigh-
surely enhance in-Motions systems comes the Weigh-in-Motion systems is
the accuracy under regulation of three to install the machines when the
roads are getting constructed”,
of weighments. government bodies namely NHAI, adds Bhutani. “It actually takes up
Adopting AI Legal Metrology (Ministry of negligible civil cost to install, as the
Consumer Affairs) and BIS. The
technologies in manufacturers and suppliers need road sections need to be casted
anyways. The civil and mechanical
software will also to comply with the technical and work can be done hand in hand to
work in enhancing functional specifications set by install the system. In case when the
these government bodies. For
the accuracy of every new version of product, roads are already constructed, and
weighments. . Model Approvals and Certificates it is an active highway. We tend
to use a less invasive technique
are issued, and new installations where diamond cutters are used to
Varun Kumar Singh and yearly recalibrations also create pit for the installation of the
calls for inspection and stamping Weigh-in-Motion. Some civil works
certificates from legal metrology.”
are required, and the lane can be
Additionally, truck drivers in India active in 2-3 weeks depending on
are often overworked, experience site conditions.”

24 TrafficInfraTech / July 2023 / www.trafficinfratech-com-500653.hostingersite.com